luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Oct 26, 2018 15:33:34 GMT
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Beetle peach drag r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle peach drag d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle oval beige drag by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle oval beige d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle oval beige drag r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle oval beige drag bay by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle red drag Bad Influence by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle red drag Bad Influence bay by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Anyhoo, VWs were not the only drag things in the paddock. There were unexpected doorslammers of various flavours Bel Air 56 Post r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Bel Air 56 Post life support by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Bel Air 57 clip by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Normally we have a good game of quizzing each other about our car factoid knowledge, and one that Ada always falls for is "what year BelAir is it?" Of course, everyone knows what a '57 looks like but in case one's got it's clothes off, it helpfully has the year pressed into the flitches Bel Air 57 bay by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Bel Air 57 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr It's not an Imp, baby. Sunbeam Stiletto 68 white s by Nick Liassides, on Flickr It's a Stilletto Sunbeam Stiletto 68 white bdg by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Sunbeam Stiletto 68 white d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Sunbeam Stiletto 68 white by Nick Liassides, on Flickr There were a couple of proper fuel Funny Cars doing demos too. One of them seemed to have suffered a very terminal and horribly expensive failure. The results of it made compelling viewing though.... like watching a car crash Funny car piston broke by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Funny car shrapnel by Nick Liassides, on Flickr anyone with any degree of mechanical sensitivity can't help but feel the PAIN looking at these, I reckon Funny car crank by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Horrible. And speaking of demos... and things going horribly wrong... Firestorm was trying to warm up the already rather hot crowd Firestorm prep by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ... which went quite well up until it staged, spooled, coughed out a huge flaming fart and trundled sadly to the side wall in silence. Hope it's nothing too expensive Firestorm launch by Nick Liassides, on Flickr In terms of big fire, li'l Willy trumped that nasty old Mustang anyway Oklahoma Willy fire by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ...although it makes a great spectacle and a good amount of noise, the ETs are slightly out of kilter with the sense of theatre. Ada used to run similar times in his street RX-7. But then, it admittedly didn't have rockets Oklahoma Willy run by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Tell you what though, the fit and finish puts many show cars to shame. Very impressive Oklahoma Willy by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Oklahoma Willy d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Oklahoma Willy r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Oklahoma Willy engines by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Just time for some more shiney cars before aback to the strip... the T-topped and very 80s Ghia on the Cool Flo stand area held the attention. But was parked too close to the barriers to get any decent photos of Karmann Ghia blue T-bar d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Few others about, which is a shame. Do so love a Ghia Karmann Ghia 66 red r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Karmann Ghia 66 red bdg by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Karmann Ghia 66 greengold by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Karmann Ghia 66 greengold bay by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Karmann Ghia 66 greengold int by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ....and a bonus extra Golf lump on bike carbs that didn't really fit in any other post Golf bike carbs by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Right, enough shiny. Want to see a scabby bus pulling wheelies? 'course you do Early Bay drag launch by Nick Liassides, on Flickr While we were sat there they organisers staged a gimmick of putting VW street cars against Pro, which made for some interesting racing. Although not usually a fan of bracket racing myself, it did make for some amusing match-ups. I just would prefer to see a race car against car, fast as possible rather than trying to catch something that left 12 seconds ago or slowing right down at the line so as not to break out. Wanna see racing, not maths :lol: Caddy stage by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Golf drag launch by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Karmann Ghia drag launch by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Fastback drag launch by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Scirocco drag launch by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Golf mkII drag launch by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle black drag broke by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle blue drag launch by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle purple drag by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle silver stage by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle silver launch by Nick Liassides, on Flickr This one nearly made it out of shot before I got the shutter open... not easy focussing, waiting on pre-stage with one eye in the viewfinder and the other trying to spot when the light goes green cos trying to match some of these professional snake-catcher's reflexes means you're gonna miss the shot often as not Beetle lgt blue drag launch by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle black drag launch by Nick Liassides, on Flickr And that's pretty much all I've got. Except, as my old granny used to say, always finish on a song. But the song that's playing is Arbouretum's White Bird and that's just too grimy for such a sunny day so I'll have to finish on a high instead. As I said, in any gathering even of exceptional cars there are always some that stand right out, raise themselves above even the extraordinary through sheer hard work, vision and attention to detail. It's even more pleasant when they turn out to be the opposite of what you'd expect. For eg, my hatred of Scene roofrack dressing is legendary... I'm often prone to a rant about contrived old tat artfully arranged to tick all the "yo, bro" boxes. So when Ninja Mark insisted I should check out a certain split bus I was certain he was on a wind-up. I couldn't have been more wrong Splittie 65 Steampunk by Nick Liassides, on Flickr What a genuine work of art. Whoever put this much work and thought into this van deserves commemoration in every respect. And possibly sectioning. Every single part was brilliantly thought out, perfectly themed and intelligently arranged. And despite the fact it was aboslutely crammed, it somehow never became too much Splittie 65 Steampunk int 1 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I just love it... it's like a part of a Victorian industrial art revolution that never happened and you can well picture H.G. Wells sitting down to shoot up some serious pharmeceuticals with Sherlock Holmes before picking up his be-cogged blunderbus and going off to bally well smite the Cthulhian invaders and possibly Martians, what! Damned Many-angled Ones will never know what hit 'em Splittie 65 Steampunk boots by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Splittie 65 Steampunk blunderbus by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Splittie 65 Steampunk bdgs by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Splittie 65 Steampunk doorpanel by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Splittie 65 Steampunk rat by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Splittie 65 Steampunk screen by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Splittie 65 Steampunk int 2 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Awesome. Incredible. Humbling. Splittie 65 Steampunk birdcage by Nick Liassides, on Flickr That's it, I've finished. You can go now
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Last Edit: Oct 26, 2018 15:45:26 GMT by luckyseven
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Oct 26, 2018 15:27:11 GMT
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If we're talking campers then some kind of ultimate has to be the Phoenix. I'm sure everyone's seen articles on it, and my crappy photos taken in a heaving paddock aren't gonna add anything that hasn't already been shown about it, but I love it so I had to try. Great, marvelous, bonkers thing that it is Phoenix by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Phoenix bay by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Phoenix f3q by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Phoenix int by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Phoenix phoenix by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Phoenix r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Phoenix st wh by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Yep. More Beetles Beetle black vert by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle black vert d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle blue by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle blue drag bay by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle green Madame Zola by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I wish I could show you a close up of the imaginative way this Beetler lined their glovebox. But I can't cos it'd contravene Flickr's indecency policy, as well as common decency . Maybe if you open the pic full-size and zoom in you'd get a NSFW taster Beetle green Madame Zola int by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle green Madame Zola r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle grey drag by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle grey drag bay by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle line up by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle pale green by Nick Liassides, on Flickr This was bit different; half patinated, half shiny paint. I dunno if it's class or but it certainly drew me in and I love how the attention-to-detail even extended to the half-rusty roofrack and bumpers Beetle half n half r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle half n half by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle half n half d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Fastback white by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Notchback 70 beige by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Notchback 70 beige int by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Squareback 67 blue r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr We had a good wander about the pits too, of course, and trunked about in all the places that stressed teams would probably rather we weren't interfering in. I do like a nice bit of race engineering. Funny to see stuff like chargecoolers being used on what were once aircooled cars, especially when they're as tiny as this. Coming from a rotary background, you'd need a 'cooler the size of a water butt to be worth bothering with! Beetle beige drag bay by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle black drag Double Cross by Nick Liassides, on Flickr To the guy (I presume owner) of Double Cross who so enthusiastically asked me if I'd been able to get the so-subtle ghost crosses to come out on "film"... Beetle black drag Double Cross cross by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ...yes, I did. But I wasn't expecting them to work, so I wish I'd composed the shot a bit bloody better. Soz Beetle black drag Double Cross eyes by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle black drag Double Cross r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Nice to see old-skool painting techniques like lacework and leaf still going strong! Beetle black drag Never Forgotten by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle black drag Never Forgotten d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle black drag Never Forgotten leaf by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle yellow drag r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle blue-brown drag r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Oct 26, 2018 15:22:58 GMT
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Golfs by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Little bit different... this is what the world looked like to me growing up reading Back Street Heroes in the 80s Trike by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Trike r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ...aaaaaaaand... back to Beetles Beetle 57 black by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 57 black bdg by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 68-on blue d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Some serious colours around! Beetle 69 fuchsia d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 70 pink d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 69 fuchsia r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 70 pink by Nick Liassides, on Flickr A fellow prole relegated to the day parking field Beetle 71 blue r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I always try to avoid disrespecting other people's cars but I took this one mostly to remind me how glad I am that I toned down the two-toning on my own car Beetle 71 blue-white by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Can't stop taking different variations of this same shot on different cars! Beetle 71 green wh d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 71 pale green by Nick Liassides, on Flickr now, that's a lot of speakers! Beetle 71 purple speakers by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Funny how many cars here hold a dark and mysterious past... if you look up the license tag information on this lovely turquoisey-blue '72 the DVLA will tell you it is, in fact, orange. Shhhh, we won't tell Beetle 72 turquoise by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 72 turquoise r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ....and the DVLA reckon this one's purple. Hmmm Beetle 72 white-black r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Cracking interior, mind Beetle 72 white-black int by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 72 white by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Porsche wheels, louvres and impossibly tidy engine bay. Mmmmm Beetle 74-on grey by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 74-on grey bay by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 76 black by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Very odd wheel bolt strategy. Beetle 75 red d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 75 red by Nick Liassides, on Flickr As always, there are a few cars that really stand out even in a show'n'shine field. For me, this was definitely one of them; Beetle 72 rod by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 72 rod engine by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 72 rod int by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 72 rod d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Yeah, you're right. Time for some vans. So bright it was almost impossible to focus on; Splittie 61 blue&white by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Splittie 66 blue graffiti by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Splittie 67 orange&white by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Splittie 67 orange&white d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Splittie pickup 62 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Splittie van cyclops 60 orange by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Splittie van Rusty by Nick Liassides, on Flickr T25 Crewcab 90 camo by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ...so, what it it with VW shows and random Star Wars characters wandering around, then? Random Star Warsness by Nick Liassides, on Flickr
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Oct 26, 2018 15:17:49 GMT
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Just realised I never got round to putting this up here, so here's a really cheeky quick cut'n'paste. It's a bit of a weird old "show" for me... I'm used to J, Fueller or Yankee Iron stuff at t'Pod so it's slightly odd to find the place more like a festival field than a car park. Probably going for just one day is the wrong way to do it, but one day was all we had so that's what we had to make do with. Never mind, got to see some great drag racing and some lovely cars. Just wish there was more cars and less funfair, maybe Anyhoo, the three of us made the best of it we could, meeting up early on the M25 services for soss and hegg muffins to keep us buoyant for the long trip. Funnily enough, I've done the trip to Santa Pod in a 450bhp RX-7 and prodigious V8 blatters and it always takes the same amount of time. 40bhp Beetle? Yep, 2 1/2 hours, same as always Breakfast stop r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Breakfast stop by Nick Liassides, on Flickr It was a bit depressing to be stuck in the one-day entrance parking, in a ploughed field so far from the strip it was pretty much in Bozeat, but at least we got a chance to get the red/white/blue parking formation in the correct order Arrival by Nick Liassides, on Flickr After a long walk on a 30 degree day, we found some cars at last. Lots of Beetles. Lots of them. In no particular order of funkiness... oh, well, maybe let's start with a Splittie, shall we? Beetle 52 black by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 52 black crotch cooler by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 52 black r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 52 black split by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 57 red r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 57 red d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 63 blue by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Baja bug 67 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Life-sized Tamiya Sand Scorcher! Beetle 58 black by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 58 black tank by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Stupidly tidy and immaculate! Beetle 63 red r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 66 krispy kreme by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 66 red d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 67 beige by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Subtlest two-tone ever? Beetle 67 brown by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 68 white r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Maybe a slight Beetle break? How about a really posh Polo. Sold for a while before VW relented and decided the UK market was ready for a smaller Golf, the Audi 50 was a better-trimmed, better-specced Polo. This one was niceAudi50 77 green by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Audi50 77 green d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Dunno quite what this is? Not convinced it's actually what it looks like. But I like the wheels, so it goes in 911ish by Nick Liassides, on Flickr 911ish bay by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Even water-coolers are welcome Corrado G60 92 red by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Tried some panning shots as we struggled along the bank in the heat. Wish I'd made time to try some more, some actually came out OK Golf MkI run by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Nu Beetle run by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Again, I liked the wheels... Caddy 88 red r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr and respect the amount of work that's gone into blending this Caddy tailgate into a Golf Golf MkI 80 green by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Golf MkI 80 green d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr
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Last Edit: Oct 26, 2018 15:18:27 GMT by luckyseven
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Oct 26, 2018 15:12:55 GMT
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Conch wheel tcd by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle green drag tcd by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Splittie 65 Steampunk birdcage by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle line up high tcd by Nick Liassides, on Flickr T25 Crewcab 90 camo tcd by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle 71 blue mud bath by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Dragging flaps tcd by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Seat drag launch tcd by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Camber trike by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Terry Grant show by Nick Liassides, on Flickr
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Oct 26, 2018 13:51:53 GMT
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Meh . Well, they're shiny I suppose That has to count for something! Right. So. Then. Headlights Headlights, again I straightened the bowl lips some posts ago (though in real terms it was months back). But I did it in a hurry so a) they weren't quite as straight as they could have been ....well, round rather than straight, but you know what I mean. And b) I hadn't had time to paint the bits where they pliers and bending had knackered off the old paint. All the while the weather was still wet and dreek I was conscious of the fact that they'd be rotting gently behind the chrome trims. Soooooo, with a dues sense of trepidation and dread, off came the headlights again. Good job too. Amazing how fast even legendarily good steel like old VW stuff can rust away. Headlamp bowl straightening by Nick Liassides, on Flickr This time I spent ages with the pliers making sure the rims were obsessively in the round, taking little tiny nibbles and bending every couple of mm till I was happy. Then masked up the entire front of the car (one of my weaknesses, being paranoid about overspray!), wire-brushed the lot and etched/primed/painted everything that even looked like it might think about one day going rusty Headlamp bowl painting by Nick Liassides, on Flickr And when it was done, I felt reasonably pleased it didn't look like it'd been done. And I'd never have to take the stupid, fiddly, annoying headlights off ever again ** I would, of course Headlamp bowl painted by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Next! While we were sorting out lighting, the offside indicator had been indulging in a slightly off-beat waywardness for the past few weeks, only working half the time. And I don't mean that in a "flashes on...flashes off" sort of way, I mean it didn't flash at all a lot of the time. Taking the chrome pod off revealed why Indicator degradation by Nick Liassides, on Flickr The rubber seal was pretty hard and obviously wasn't, well, sealing awfully well. I cleaned up the contacts in the bulbholder plate but this seemed like the ideal time to go through one of the rituals I have with pretty much every vehicle I've ever had. De-fried-eggifying the indicators. I mean, why wouldn't you? It's so easy that even M*x P*wer never had to dedicate a How To for it. Just take out the orange lenses, put in clear ones and change the bulbs to ones that flash orange Indicators cleared by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Looks a miwwion times better (IMHO) especially if you use chrome-coated bulbs to totally lose the fired-egg look you get with orange ones. And, via the magic of SCIENCE (or possibly just magic) they still flash orange! Indicator defriedeggified by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Next! Rear seat base, then. The rear bench squab on a Beetle just sits on random bits of body at the side, and across the front has a shaped metal bar that locates the footwell cards underneath and the seat above. Mine was rusty, and given that I hate doing anything to a bit of a car I've only got the one of in case I destroy it somehow (plus it's easier to do one off the car than have to live without the one being in the car for however long it takes) I got a secondhand one to furkle about with. It was rusty. Rustier than the one in the car, of course Seat bar rust by Nick Liassides, on Flickr While I was stripping that back, might as well get on with something else in and around. A while ago I'd scored a dash trim that had been converted to hold a standard 52mm gauge. On earlier Beetles (such as Adam's '67) the fuel gauge had been an option, before that an aftermarket addition. By the time Dolly came off the Wolfsburg line, the fuel gauge had been incorporated into the speedo so there was no need to have the big square aperture for the Dehne or VDO ones cut into the dash trim. So my trim was just a flat grille piece. Hence the converted one. You can get these off the shelf, but this looked to me like a home-brewed conversion with brazing and stuff ... which I liked about it. Still, it was a bit rusty, so went into the magic ol' citric acid stripping bath along with some other bits I had lying around Grille cleaning by Nick Liassides, on Flickr But what's the gauge that's going into the aperture, Nik? I hear you cry. Good question, I'm glad you asked. Well, as just mentioned, I didn't need a fuel gauge. Tacho? You can get a nice 52mm one but why bother? A 1200 engine is going to limit its own revs by struggling to push through the morning mists, let alone over-rev itself. Temperature? Head temp or oil are common Beetle upgrade gauges, but again, why? If it's getting warm what am I going to do about it? Sit on the hard shoulder of the M27 and wait for Dolly to have a little rest? Meh. There was only one thing I really needed, and that was Clock by Nick Liassides, on Flickr maybe it's because of my job, where I'm forced to account for every second of every day. Maybe it's growing up at a time when having a clock in your car marked you out as Someone. Someone who could afford a model a bit better than the base Popular L, anyway. Dunno why, but I just hate not knowing what the time is. And it's especially important in a 1200 Beetle, so you can tell exactly how late you're going to be. Actually, funnily enough, there's only really one route to get to Adam's place from mine, over hill, down dale and along single-carriage country roads. I've done the same trip in modern electronic cars, 450bhp sportscars and everything in between. The journey always takes an hour... exactly one hour, whether you drive like Satan and all his fiery minions are hot on your tail or whether you drive like you're taking Miss Daisy out for a promenade. Always an hour. Dolly is the only car I've ever done the trip in less than an hour. How weird is that? Anyway, time for a clock. First job was to make a gasket to cover the vents, stop air blowing right through the cabin from under the bonnet and hide the back of the wiring shambles behind Grille and gasket by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Ada let the cat out of the bag about my secret rubber sheet in his thread so I might as well show it off, lol. Trickiest part was making a small hole to allow the clock adjustment button poke through without bending horribly the tangs of the grille. Meanwhile... Seat bar painted by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Primed and painted the seat bar in Dolly Blue (whatever that is, still never found another one the same colour. Still no idea if it's even a VW colour). And since we were chucking paint about, I did the grille panel as well. I love this clock, it's designed to match the concentric-circles motif that early VW VDO gauges such as those on Beetles and Ghias had. Even though Dolly's speedo was a later one without the rings, it was still the best fit for the cabin in my opinion Grille with clock by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Funnily enough, even though Beetles had been updated to the new clocks for some four years when Dolly was born, the dash retains the cutout for the square separate VDO fuel gauge behind the grille trim. I had to make this more suitable for a round thing Clock hole relief by Nick Liassides, on Flickr The wiring behind the dash was (is) still horrible and is still on my "to do" list. Maybe this winter . Still, it was easy enough to steal a parasitic feed off a permanent live to the ignition, fused with a little in-line holder to avoid putting any more stress through the sketchy VW fusebox... not even three amps! Clock wiring by Nick Liassides, on Flickr and there we go, one clock mounted as if it was always meant to be there. *ahem* so says me, anyway Clock fitted by Nick Liassides, on Flickr meanwhile, under the back seat; Seat bar old by Nick Liassides, on Flickr while we're here, might as well solve one on-going problem that'd been bugging me. See that funny-shaped plate there on the tunnel? Under that lurks the gear linkage, the end of a steel rod that runs from the gear lever to the gearbox nose. The one connects to the other via a linkage consisting of a steel cage holding two rubber blocks to take up lash. Over time the rubber denatures, the action gets all vague and it gets harder to find the gears... or, worse, predict which gear you actually have selected. Better attend to that then. The plate comes off with a single self-tapper, and under it lies the linkage. The fittings for this are pure bizarre, in a German sense of humour kinda way. A square-headed bolt (with lockwire), a giant self-tapping screw that goes into a weird-ly shaped tube that's designed to deform as the screw goes in... it's like they had a specially long night on the Schnapps the day before they designed that one, with a mission to use the most eccentric and obscure fasteners the machine shop could dream up. Because the tapper distorts its collar sleeve as it screws in, it's really hard to undo it once it's rusted together for forty-plus years, especially in a small steel box with sharp edges all round. I was hoping to leave the gear lever end undisturbed for simplicity, but in the end had to take off the shifter the free the front end of the rod and thus enable the rear end to be moved about more. So I could actually get to the stupid, annoying, ridiculous bloody daft fasteners Gear linkage OG by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Inherited internet wisdom has it that going to this trouble to replace the linkage, it's wise to replace it with modern poly bushes rather than old-skool rubber. However. The kit I bought was an EMPI one, and sadly EMPI products have come a long way since the glory days of the legendary Inch Pincher being one of the first Beetle drag legends and decimate all before it. Mostly nowadays the famous Globe trademark is no longer an indication of quality parts like in its heyday, but rather an by-word for "DANGER! this packet contains the flimsiest form of Chineseum yet discovered. Do not use on anything you want to keep together more than a week" OK, that's more than one word, but you get the gist. So the advice is to re-use the original VW linkage cage unless it's rusted to oblivion and just insert the new fasteners and urethane bushes. You could see why when comparing them on the bench; the EMPI cage felt like it was folded together out of leftover KitKat wrappers, the OG VW one felt like it was forged from melted-down Panzer armour. Gear linkage old v new by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Just as well I was swapping this out though, as the original rubber blocks had gone very manky indeed and separated from their containing blocks. In with the combo of new and old bits, then, and if winding out the old deformable screw assembly had been annoying then winding the new one in was really annoying but finally I could get on with the fun part Gear linkage lockwiring by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I love using lockwire pliers; not only are they a really cool little gizmo that's wonderfully simple yet delightfully efficient, but lockwiring done neatly always screams professionalism to me. It speaks of the artform Bugatti raised it to, or those hairy-chested Superbikes I grew up lusting after. And... done Gear linkage finished by Nick Liassides, on Flickr So all that was left... after spending ages trying to line up the gear lever properly again and tighten down the bolts by two degrees of spanner rotation at a time cos there's no smegging access through the cage... was to bung in the newly-painted seat rail Seat bar renewed by Nick Liassides, on Flickr That's better. A nice little dash of colour to the dour coal-hole black of the rear seating Seat bar plus seat by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Better finish off that dash then. The clock needed light, so the best way seemed to be to steal it from the existing dash lights. These are arcane little olde-worlde spring loaded bulbholders that I was tempted to replace with maybe some LEDs but eventually discarded the idea. They work fine and there's nothing more annoying than a searingly bright gauge cluster at night... I speak from bitter experience, having had stupidly bright aftermarket gauges in the past. MY FD with one of the gauge setups was ridiculous; at night all you could see was a reflection of the gauges in the windscreen. And nothing beyond that. Anyway, it was easier to make up a new loom for the lighting than bastardise the old one. And it meant I could actually insulate the terminals, unlike the OG corroded bare ones. Hah, in your face once again, rubber-hating Germans! Clock light wiring by Nick Liassides, on Flickr And let there be light Clock finished by Nick Liassides, on Flickr As Paul McGann says in the incomparable Withnail & I... even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day. This one gives the right time all the time. Läuft und läuft und läuft und.... Clock lit by Nick Liassides, on Flickr
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
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Club RR Member Number: 45
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1951 Pontiac Chieftainluckyseven
@luckyseven
Club Retro Rides Member 45
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Oct 26, 2018 12:32:53 GMT
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Absolutely love this. What a gorgeous thing
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
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Club RR Member Number: 45
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The Muscle Car Thread.luckyseven
@luckyseven
Club Retro Rides Member 45
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Oct 26, 2018 12:28:48 GMT
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Can Mom's grocery-getter be a muscle car? Belvedere II wagon cream 67 launch by Nick Liassides, on Flickr welllllll.....no. But For me the definition of muscle car is quite strait; a mid-size saloon or coupe with an excess of engine beyond what you'd have expected it to have. It started with the Pontiac GTO in '64 and petered out due to emissions, insurance and gas mileage constraints with the death by strangulation of the Challenger in 1974 There's probably more web pages arguing what counts and what doesn't than any other automotive subject. Is a Mustang a muscle car, or as a compact, the archetypal sub-sized "pony" car? Even after it bloated out twice and ended up massive post-'70? Is a T-Bird, when even Ford called it a "personal luxury car" from the get-go and it started out smaller than a Corvette? Is a Torino? Despite having prodigious big-blocks and drag-spec options lists, surely it's a race car made to clatter around the big ovals like Talladega at 200mph? Not sure it matters... maybe the thread could just be for "cool American performance cars"? Not snappy but possibly a broader and more interesting church Anyway, what's with all the Dodges and Fords? No love for the Tri-shield? GSX white 70 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Oct 25, 2018 21:09:42 GMT
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Now he tells us And that spider was huge. It was like an eight-legged spacehopper. With attitude. I saved both our lives by selflessly taking it out before it killed everyone in the entire street
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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The Muscle Car Thread.luckyseven
@luckyseven
Club Retro Rides Member 45
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Oct 25, 2018 17:17:36 GMT
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There are a lot of cars in this thread that sooooooooo aren't muscle cars Not that I ever mind looking at photos of groovy Yankee iron, but boat-tailed Rivvy? Was that a Toronado? T-Birds? Nope. Nope nope nope. Cool though Very few cars, ever, have looked better than the rear view of a '68 Charger. It's just a fact although for me, there's just something about that insouciant, cheeky little nonchalant apostrophe that makes me go weak at the knees;
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Last Edit: Oct 25, 2018 17:20:00 GMT by luckyseven
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
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Club RR Member Number: 45
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Beetle pro74luckyseven
@luckyseven
Club Retro Rides Member 45
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Oct 25, 2018 17:10:08 GMT
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Hmmmm I love a nice jigsaw puzzle
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
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Club RR Member Number: 45
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Oct 25, 2018 14:42:15 GMT
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So there we were, wrestling with reversing potentially fifty years of gunge. The brake caliper came off easily enough, and the disc... after all the front discs are pretty much held on by little other than hope and the speedo drive. But those ball joints... and the pinch bolt for the trackrod end? OG spindle by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Nope Still, at least Lewis got Dex's steering wheel swapped over while me and Ada fought with Lenny's nether parts. Good job too as someone needed to get in the garage compound he was parked in front of, and the only other option would have been steering with molegrips Dexter by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I think it's a Flat 4 one. When he got it at the Sandown swap meet I was a bit uncomplimentary, joking that wooden steering wheels only really belong on a boat, but now it's in place I have to concede it actually looks rather proper Dexters boat wheel by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Anyway, some progress. We finally managed to get the one side pinch bolt out - by the time-honoured strategy of snapping it in half (see previous post). The other side one... well, you couldn't in all honesty call it a bolt any more Almost snapped by Nick Liassides, on Flickr More a corroded, featureless stub. And eventually I dismounted the balljoints from the axle plate by the simple technique of getting fed up enough to just pull really hard on the torsion bar links and hope they moved before the entire car got physically lifted off the axle stands Spindle out by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ...it was a close-run thing. The new one makes the old look like the nine stone weakling it really is. New one is all hench and buff and anabolic Spindle comparison by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Fortunately, Lewis had borrowed some balljoint splitters from his dad, so he stopped showing us his rear end for long enough to be useful splitter leverage by Nick Liassides, on Flickr But that recalcitrant trackrod end... Heating by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Still nope. Fire was not helping persuade it from it's aeon-long sleep, either. Finally, after much getting medieval on it, stuff began to move and we could get on with some actual progress Applying spindle by Nick Liassides, on Flickr At this point, as the only one with a currently-functioning car, I was dispatched on a mercy mission to get the new wheels shod with some rubber. So Dolly was turned into a delivery van, and off we went down to see Grumpy Bob at Discount Tyres. Tyre shopping by Nick Liassides, on Flickr By the time I got back, the spindles were done and Ada was like a chimp picking peanuts out of poo trying to drift the new bearings into the new (old) pattern discs. Bearing up by Nick Liassides, on Flickr using a fascinating array of almost-the-right-size items; it appears intake trumpets off a 48IDA Weber make a good tool. Have to admit, the new shiny Fuchs(style) wheels did look good shod in their new boots. Mmm, shiny Line of shiny by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Re-assembly was, as it says in all the best workshop manuals, the reverse of removal, only a damned sight easier because now we weren't overcoming massively rusted and disreputable old chod Discs on by Nick Liassides, on Flickr and it wasn't long before Lenny was sitting on his own four paws again. Winning. well... half winning Fronts on by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Lewis cleared off, as he had to work late shift or some other feeble excuse, and while Adam set about jacking up the rear of Lenny, I turned my attention to some essential surgery on Dolly. Remember I said about the church in the woods and how we struggled last time because the front was too low? Well, it wasn't just the numberplate that was a casualty. When we came back downt he track, there was no choice on a certain bend but to straddle the hump in the centre of the track between the ruts. And we got beached. Properly so, to the point where the horrible graunching noise ended in a complete lack of forward motion and I had to back up and try again on a slightly different trajectory. Since then the whatever-it-was had caught on speed humps, the lip of the driveway, dead foxes, all kinds of low-lying obstacles in the road. It needed sorting and something clearly wasn't right because the car wasn't that low Bracket diversion by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Ah yeah. That'll be what's doing it! No idea what it's meant to be... never seen it on any other Beetle beams. I guess it's a tow hook; it was certainly a gurt big thick chunk of steel and strong enough to lever both the front wheels off the ground. Having peered closely at it from every angle and reassured myself it served no structural purpose other than to be annoying, it was time to get real on it Bracket delete by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Doing the last few mm with a hacksaw because the grinder disc couldn't reach proved a test of lactic acid management strategies, but finally, with shaky hands, the huge boat anchor of a thing was no longer a part of my life Bracket memento by Nick Liassides, on Flickr and we could return attention to Lenny's rear end. Ada had jacked the back up so we could get the wheels off. The front hubnuts had been suspiciously easy to undo, but all literature on the subject suggested the rears would be a nightmare. VW, for no reason understood by mere humans, saw fit to torque the rear hubnuts up to 250lb/ft of torque. No, you didn't miss-read that. Two hundred and fifty. Which is what's technically known in the trade as "a bleedin' lot". To be even more irritating, I didn't have a socket big enough to fit the 56mm nut. Fortunately a quick spin up to Halfords proved that they actually can be useful for something, if you're willing to pay enough for it. So we took the wheels off. Tried a couple of extensions. Failed utterly to budge the nut. Tried longer extensions. Failed utterly to budge the nut. Tried the longest extension. Managed to turn the wheels and drag the car along despite the handbrake being on and it being in gear. Hmmm. Put the wheels back on to use the ground as a big friction resistor. Still moved the car. Still didn't break the nut off. Dang. We had no choice but to resort to Eeyore's Massive Pole Of Epic Torque. Which was at the point the pair of us nearly died *. *actually really genuinely nearly didThe first murder victim was me... noticing that the pole was full of Hollywood horror film-style cobwebs, I banged it on the floor to shift them. At this point a huge and very irate-looking False Widow plopped out of the end and made a concerted effort to bite me to death. Honestly, the thing was massive, at least the size of a tarantula or an Alien facehugger, and it was seriously peevish with murder on its little arachnid mind. To say I'm arachnophobic is an understatement akin to saying "Trump makes the occasional stupid statement" but I bravely managed to overcome my terror of imminent fatal death through being killed and fight back with one of my favourite feet. Yep, I jumped on it. In fact, it's fair to say I killed it and killed it and killed it some more until it knew it was &%@#!ing dead... or actually it didn't cos it was left as a slightly greasy smear on the floor. And yes, I'm a bad person and my karma is in tatters and I'm going to hell, but I'm not having things like that lumbering around in my workspace. Nope nope nope nopeity nope And as to how Ada died *... well, take a guess * almost diedNut rupture by Nick Liassides, on Flickr It appears that my King Dick extensions weren't really designed to cope with the sort of torque that can physically drag a car along the ground over the resistance of both gravity and its handbrake/gearbox. So it sheared off. On the plus side, it was extraordinarily funny watching Ada go down on his broad rear end like a muppet with the strings cut made all the more amusing by the way he very nearly twatted his entire skull off with Eeyore's Mighty Pole in the process. But it wasn't all fun and games, so once I'd finished nearly wetting myself laughing, we tried again with another extension and this time beat the pesky nut into submission Ogdens nut gone by Nick Liassides, on Flickr To be fair, it was now late, getting dark and we were nowhere near finished. The soss an hegg muffins had worn off and we were both starting to get a bit hangry. But we had no choice but to press on (heroically) because otherwise Lenny would be stranded on my drive with fewer than the correct number of wheels and Ada wouldn't be able to get home. So on we pressed (heroically) The skies bruise by Nick Liassides, on Flickr In record quick time we swapped over the rear drums to the new stud pattern ... it was starting to get so serious I didn't even have time for picktchers... and we could start reassembling stuff Reverse assembly by Nick Liassides, on Flickr For an encore, Ada managed to curse word himself to death again *, and it was still so all-consumingly hilarious that I almost didn't mind the loss of another of my dear late father-in-law's extensions. Almost * almost death. Honestly. Really almost to deathExtension murder by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Details of why this is actually a little bit sad can be seen on this 'ere thread what I wroted some time back; forum.retro-rides.org/thread/166243/hail-king-baby Still, at least they died for a good cause. It really was getting too dark almost to see and certainly to take any half-decent photographs... as borne witness by the super-grainy insanely high ISO value here in this next picture of a chimp picking peanuts out of poo broken man desperately trying to thread a splitpin through a castellated nut using the very last reserves of his strength Final assembly by Nick Liassides, on Flickr But finally, after what seemed a really long day (because it was) Lenny was back on four paws once again and able to potter round the block on a test drive through the thickening gloaming Away she goes by Nick Liassides, on Flickr .....and make it back again Road test by Nick Liassides, on Flickr There were a few minor annoyances.... well, not so much for me as it wasn't my car. I'm only writing this up because I forgot to add these photos to Adam's thread when I had the chance and as a penance for being a wimp and getting Uncle Terry to fit the drop spindles on Dolly. And now I have a full and truly horrifying experience of exactly why I didn't want to fit the bloody things myself *ahem* anyway, Lenny. The rear hubnuts annoyingly stuck too far proud through the centre bore to allow the centre caps to be fitted, so some spacers seemed the solution. Which of course, we didn't have. And the front tyres, being stock 155s, were a little bit big and rubbed a gnat's on the arches, though nowhere near so bad as Dolly's had. And as it grew too dark to function, there was time only for one last arty reflection shot The skys gone out by Nick Liassides, on Flickr and we retired, following the strong lure of curry, reflecting ourselves on what a successful day overall it had been. Given that all the work had been performed by two and a half cretins with a severe lack of a clue. And essentially....all that work just to introduce an extra stud hole into each wheel hub Still, at least my new Dolly-spec modern headlights from a few posts earlier were a lot brighter than Lenny's feeble old skool candles Lights out by Nick Liassides, on Flickr and that's why modern is cooler than sloper Oh yeah, headlights. Had to mention headlights. we'll be coming back to them... AGAIN Seems I end every other post with that line
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
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Club RR Member Number: 45
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1966 VW Beetle Cal lookluckyseven
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Club Retro Rides Member 45
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Oct 25, 2018 10:46:52 GMT
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Sooooo much better than the Fuchs . Anyone can put Fuchs on nowadays
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Last Edit: Oct 25, 2018 10:47:40 GMT by luckyseven
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
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Club RR Member Number: 45
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Oct 25, 2018 10:44:58 GMT
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Oh yeah, I forgot about that. United did used to be a thing, didn't they?
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luckyseven
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Oct 24, 2018 15:51:50 GMT
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Hmmm. *whispers* but if I were to sell my RX-7 I could have an epic engine of utter epicness from the proceeds... *thought bubble* Anyhooo, so we come to the inaugural meeting of the MWVW Club. Or Milford, Worthing and Wormley to give it it's full title. And yes, I know that's not enough "W"s, but it was getting silly. It sounds a lot grander than it is, anyway. Basically it's three mates who happened to all end up with Beetles at the same time. Lewis ( dex66 of this parish) has had his Dexter for a long time. Lewis is a man of few words, but has a perfunctory Dex thread here forum.retro-rides.org/thread/203749/1966-vw-beetle-cal. You met him before in this other thread, amongst others forum.retro-rides.org/thread/203522/volksworld-show-pics when we went up to the season-opener Volksworld show. While we were there, Ada fell a bit for a stockish and unassuming '67 (one-year only crossover model straddling the best bits of old and new(ish) Beetles). By the time we went to the Dubs In The Park show (linked to in a previous post of this 'ere thread), he'd bought it. And christened it "Lenny" for no reason that's easily understood. We called it "poppodom beige". Lenny has a thread here if you'd like to know more forum.retro-rides.org/thread/206134/lenny-poppadom-beige-vw-beetleRight, so given that we all had Beetles and Ada's was the slowest and worst at hills, despite having 100 very real more CCs than my Dolly (I only mention it because it's funny), it was time for a meetup. Lenny was also depressingly stock and needed stuff doing to amend this. And what's the first thing we do to make our cars less stock and abject, boys and girls? Yep, wheels and lows. Innit Trio by Nick Liassides, on Flickr If ever a photo demonstrated the insane and unforgiveable standard ride height of a Beetle... Anyway, th'Boy Ada had ordered in a load of stuff to amend Lenny with, but some was wrong and some more bits were needed so the first order of the day was... riding selfie by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ROAD TRIP! *ahem*. I think that's actually only the second ever selfie I've taken You can see why. It wasn't the most epic of road trips, but at least it involved soss an hegg McMuffins and ended up at *choral paean* the Mecca of all things VW messages after the beep by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I still can't get used to calling it Heritage Parts Centre. Especially not when the website still redirects from "VW Heritage". We sat about while Adam tried to remember what he'd come for, and Lewis pondered the Wall of Wheels Heritage worship by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Dunno why, Dex already wore what's generally taken to be the acme of Beetle wheels in the shape of detailed Fuchs. With genuine Porky centre caps, no less Stuttgart original by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Maybe the fact he's since changed to gas burners might explain it Sorted for parts and shiz, we returned to our little garage community to get stuck in. Well, Adam and Lewis got stuck in, I mostly mooched around being useless and taking random "art" photos of pointless things 1500 reasons for fun by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Usually cherished as one of the most desirable combinations of car and engine, the '67 1500 Beetle rejuvenated VWs flagging appeal like no other. The engine was great, the car addressed many of the flaws long-time owners of older cars complained about. Sadly, Lenny no longer has his original 1500 lump, having a replacement 1300 that's been "thrown in" there (not my words). Lovely dash though Lenny dash by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Dex louvres by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Dex has a lot more fun in his rear end than the other two put together. Dex bay by Nick Liassides, on Flickr On this particular day, Lewis was mainly about keeping an eye on all that extra twin-carbed 1700 grunt by fitting a tach he'd picked up. And a replacement steering wheel, dunno why. Not much wrong with the old one. Dexters OG wheel by Nick Liassides, on Flickr so while he got on with pretending to work really hard on wiring and stuff (which he does for a living, basically, so was fooling nobody)... Pornstar pose by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ....me and Ada got on with jacking up Lenny. Well, I say "me and Ada", clearly what I mean was "Ada and I". And to be truthful, I didn't actually do very much You can see why these needed changing! Personally I've never been too much of a fan of late-style dog dish Beetle hubcaps. Dolly reflection by Nick Liassides, on Flickr It didn't look too hopeful under there, it has to be said. The track rods and balljoints looked like they'd been salvaged from a scrapheap and glued together with monkey turds. We left them soaking in penetrating oil in the misguided and hopelessly optimistic faith that might help Gnarly track rod by Nick Liassides, on Flickr "And why did you need to break all this stuff apart, L7?" I hear you ask? "Didn't a '67 Beetle come with disc brakes as standard?" Well, yes they did, I'm glad you asked. And top Beetle trivial knowledge there too, give yourself a house point. But, y'see, Ada had bought a set of wheels (Fuchs, natch, because apparently it's The Law nowadays that every third Beetle has to have Fuchs) that required a five-bolt stud pattern. And the '67 was the first year of the new Beetle 4x130 stud pattern. So we had to change everything to aftermarket early-style discs. And besides, there was the small matter of lows. Drop spindles were required! About this time we got a mojo boost by the arrival of Eeyore, who was kindly dropping off his Auxiliary Big Hubnut Removal Tool (it's a scaffold pole). But it did at least give us a chance to wonder once again at the rarity and beige enormity of his amusing Hornet. Now with front buckets instead of the weird tartan split bench thing Hornet by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ("work" is happening in the background, please note) Jacking by Nick Liassides, on Flickr As I said before, I love any car that has a "Desert" setting on the heater controls Hornet dash by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Hornet s by Nick Liassides, on Flickr And then ol' Eeyore was off, having unloaded his Mighty Pole of Great Torque... which, as it turned out later, was nearly the source of two of our deaths (possible disclaimer for slight exaggeration)... muttering as he did so about having learned his lesson working on Beetles. I think he's still traumatised by the hours it took him trying to re-assemble the eighteen-piece jigsaws that masquerade as Beetle headlights And now I've got to pop off and be a parent (I know, unlikely as it might sound) so tune in next time when we'll be breaking stuff, Snapped by Nick Liassides, on Flickr burning stuff, swearing (a lot) , cutting off chunks with angle grinders, and two of us nearly die * Will our intrepid heroes conquer fifty-year-old Beetle suspension arms? Or will they fail catastrophically? OOoooh, suspense * tiny bit of poetic license
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
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Oct 23, 2018 17:02:47 GMT
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Wow, that resurfaced then I only linked this thread to save me explaining why there's a church in a wood in my Beetle thread, but thanks for the kind words. Glad to see others are as interested in how quickly the works of man return to the soil, lol. It's still there, slowly sinking and being eaten by the trees. Last time we went past it was later in the year than when we go for the bluebells, so there were more leaves to hide stuff and the arum lillies (Cuckoo Pint for those what speaks old Country) were starting. axle deep in arums by Nick Liassides, on Flickr going back by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Nothing changes mood like a decent Downs pasture woodland. When the woodcutters are burning it can look positively surreal Fog on the Barrowdowns by Nick Liassides, on Flickr on a sunny spring day it can even make a rusting old combine look beautiful tyred out by Nick Liassides, on Flickr and if nothing else, it's always interesting will it work by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Some of the trees in the pastures have been grazed and coppiced and generally abused so often for so long that they're like strange subterranean monsters heaving themselves up out of the soil. Wouldn't want to meet one at night tree beast by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Better to lie under the beech and let the suns rays wash you through the dappled mosaic of new leaves spring leaves by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ...when you're not being photobombed by tiny hoodlums Cat photobomb by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Even this grand old tree looks sinister. If you look at it wrong beech sculpture by Nick Liassides, on Flickr If you pull out far enough you gain a true meaning of the word "insignificance" Insignificance by Nick Liassides, on Flickr There was a wreath hanging from it last time we visited. Those fun-loving pagans again. window in the woods by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I remembered to take a pic of the growth rings in a King Alfred's Cake this time, King Alfreds cake by Nick Liassides, on Flickr and the Early Purple Orchids were spectacular early purple by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Evidence of new life, as always... Or did this one not make it? Judging by the traces of yolk, I'd suspect it fell victim to some kind of egg thief. did they make it by Nick Liassides, on Flickr but back to this thing... bits of it are disappearing the stand by Nick Liassides, on Flickr some parts have just fallen off as the rust overpowers the metal. Some are missing though human agency, I suspect. There's no trace of the steering wheel at all, making me suspect someone nicked it. Wish it had been me, now rubber once by Nick Liassides, on Flickr gauge face by Nick Liassides, on Flickr diesel by Nick Liassides, on Flickr tree eats steel by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Geocache... that's the thing. Thanks again for showing interest in my gibberish and the kind words
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
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Club RR Member Number: 45
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Oct 20, 2018 16:57:34 GMT
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1200 gearbox is mega-low geared too isn't it? So I'll decimate all in the traffic light GP I have to admit I've been thinking about maybe a more betterer engine. Maybe next year, in my mortgage-free month
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
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Club RR Member Number: 45
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Oct 19, 2018 18:08:10 GMT
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Thanks! I've not forgotten to update on the updates, just a brutal week of work cramping my style rather. Have a random arty pic to be getting on with Dexter & Dolly wheels by Nick Liassides, on Flickr
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
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Oct 18, 2018 13:43:03 GMT
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I've got any number of 13B housings. Trouble is, they're all pre-knackered and not even worthy as clockstands
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
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Club RR Member Number: 45
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Oct 18, 2018 13:41:21 GMT
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Anyone who works on the coal face of any railway can tell you the answer to almost all problems is fewer trains. But no-one ever listens. It all looks so easy drawn up on a track diagram in an airconditioned bunker miles from the front line. Any reason we can't run 24 trains an hour through a crumbling Victorian freight tunnel under central London?
Errrr... yeah, lots of reasons, not the least of which is that it's a crumbling Victorian freight tunnel under central London. Ahhhhh, but we've moved all the signals really close together....
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